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Caulerpa (Chlorophyta) species inhabiting intertidal and shallow subtidal areas along the Israeli Mediterranean shores were surveyed (i.e. presence/absence) on a seasonal basis from 2007-2009. We recorded the presence of three species C. prolifera , C. mexicana , and C. scalpelliformis . These species were noticeable in autumn and inconspicuous during winter, thus, revealing seasonality and population dynamics. There were no indications of well-known invasive species such as Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea and Caulerpa taxifolia . This study is the first of a kind that assesses the geographical distribution and seasonality of the genus Caulerpa along the Israeli shores.

The Collective Article ‘New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records’ of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of native and alien species respectively. The new records of native species include: the neon flying squid Ommastrephes bartramii in Capri Island, Thyrrenian Sea; the bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus in the Adriatic Sea; a juvenile basking shark Cetorhinus maximus caught off Piran (northern Adriatic); the deep-sea Messina rockfish Scorpaenodes arenai in the National Marine Park of Zakynthos (East Ionian Sea, Greece); and the oceanic puffer Lagocephalus lagocephalus in the Adriatic Sea. The new records of alien species include: the red algae Antithamnionella elegans and Palisada maris-rubri, found for the first time in Israel and Greece respectively; the green alga Codium parvulum reported from Turkey (Aegean Sea); the first record of the alien sea urchin Diadema setosum in Greece; the nudibranch Goniobranchus annulatus reported from South-Eastern Aegean Sea (Greece); the opisthobranch Melibe viridis found in Lebanon; the new records of the blue spotted cornetfish Fistularia commersonii in the Alicante coast (Eastern Spain); the alien fish Siganus luridus and Siganus rivulatus in Lipsi Island, Dodecanese (Greece); the first record of Stephanolepis diaspros from the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (western Sicily); a northward expansion of the alien pufferfish Torquigener flavimaculosus along the southeastern Aegean coasts of Turkey; and data on the occurrence of the Lessepsian immigrants Alepes djedaba, Lagocephalus sceleratus and Fistularia commersonii in Zakynthos Island (SE Ionian Sea, Greece) F.A. Fernández-Álvarez was supported by a predoctoral fellowship of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (BES-2013-063551); the research on O. bartramii was financed by the projects AGL2012-39077 and FA1301. The obserThe observation of Scorpaenodes arenai was made during underwater studies for Project “Monitoring the conservation status of habitat types and species of Community interest (Section 2) in the National Marine Park of Zakynthos (NMPZ) and the Site of Community Importance (SCI) GR2210002” and the EU SEAS-ERA project CIGESMED; V. Gerovasileiou and N. Bailly N. Bailly are grateful to the scientific diving team of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, the Department of Marine Sciences of the University of the Aegean and the Management Agency of the NMPZ for their valuable help during fieldwork. […] R. Hoffman is a VATAT-supported post-doctoral fellow at the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and National Research Center; his research was supported by an Israeli Taxonomy Initiative grant; […] The study of Codium parvulum has been supported by Celal Bayar University (BAP 2011-080). […] The research on Torquigener flavimaculosus was supported by Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University Scientific Research Fund (BAP 13/06) Tsiamis, K. ... et. al.-- 17 pages, 22 figures, 2 tables Peer reviewed

This paper is a collection of novel distributional records of 20 species belonging to 8 phyla (Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta, Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Annelida, Mollusca, Arthropoda and Chordata) from 11 Mediterranean countries, namely, Spain : an additional record of the Canary dentex Dentex canariensis is reported from Spain (Valencia), this is the northernmost record of this species in the Mediterranean; Algeria : the first documented record of Caulerpa chemnitzia is reported from the Algerian coast; France : the first record of the Spotted sea hare Aplysia dactylomela is reported from the eastern coast of Corsica; Italy : the first records of the Lessepsian polychaete Dorvillea similis and the alien bivalve Isognomon legumen are reported from Italian waters while additional records of Mnemiopsis leidyi in the south Adriatic are provided; Libya : the first record of an alien mollusc Crepidula fornicata is reported from Libyan waters; Malta : multiple sightings of gelatinous species Apolemia uvaria, Phacellophora camtschatica and Physophora hydrostatica are reported for the first time from Maltese waters, as well as the first tentative record of the Orange-spotted grouper Epinephelus cfr. coioides ; Greece : an occurrence of a rare Bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus is reported from Hellenic Ionian waters, while the first records of the alien Mertens’ prawn-goby Vanderhorstia mertensi , the recently described cyclopoid copepod Oithona davisae and the alien red seaweed Asparagopsis armata are reported from the Aegean Sea. The presence of the micromollusc Euthymella colzumensis is confirmed for Greece; Cyprus : the first record of the red cornetfish Fistularia petimba is reported from Cyprus; Turkey : the first record of the alien jellyfish Marivagia stellata is reported from south-eastern Turkey; Israel : the first records of the sea nettle Chrysaora sp. in the Levant are reported.

Styela plicata (Lesueur, 1823) (Tunicata; Stolidobranchia; Styelidae) is a solitary ascidian with a global distribution. Until recently it had not been observed along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, but is now to be found in many harbors attached to suspended ropes and other artificial structures. In order to monitor the populations of S. plicata, we surveyed eight harbors along the Israeli Mediterranean coast. Our results show that the condition and maintenance of each harbor significantly affected the presence of S. plicata. We also characterized the microbial communities in the tunic of three individuals using 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing and compared them to those in the surrounding seawater, in order to determine whether the symbiotic bacteria may contribute to the successful establishment of this ascidian species. We found 15 bacterial phyla in total, of which 14 were present in the animal hosts: 6 were present in all of the individuals and 4 in two of the individuals. Three of the 15 phyla observed were absent in the surrounding seawater. The high variability among the three hosts suggests a mechanism of horizontal transmission and may play a role in the process of invading new and less tolerant niches.

The Mediterranean Large Elasmobranchs Monitoring (MEDLEM) database contains more than 3,000 records (with more than 4,000 individuals) of large elasmobranch species from 21 different countries around the Mediterranean and Black seas, observed from 1666 to 2017. The principal species included in the archive are the devil ray (1,868 individuals), the basking shark (935 individuals), the blue shark (622 individuals), and the great white shark (342 individuals). In the last decades, other species such as the thresher shark (187 individuals), the shortfin mako (180 individuals), and the spiny butterfly ray (138) were reported with increasing frequency. This was possibly due to increased public awareness on the conservation status of sharks, and the consequent development of new monitoring programs. MEDLEM does not have homo-geneous reporting coverage throughout the Mediterranean and Black seas and it should be considered as a database of observed species presence. Scientific monitoring efforts in the south-eastern Mediterranean and Black seas arc generally lower than in the northern sectors and the absence of some species in our database does not imply their actual absence in these regions. However, the available data allowed us to analyse the frequency and spatial distribution of records, the size frequencies for a few selected the available data allowed us to analyse the frequency and spatial distribution of records, the size frequencies for a few selected species, the overall area coverage, and which species are involved as bycatch by different fishing gears. Place: Hellinikon Publisher: Natl Centre Marine Research WOS:000563186800002 International audience

The Collective Article 'New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records' of the Mediterranean Marine Science journal offers the means to publish biodiversity records in the Mediterranean Sea. The current article is divided in two parts, for records of alien and native species respectively. The new records of alien species include: the red alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (Crete and Lakonikos Gulf, Greece); the red alga Grateloupia turuturu (along the Israeli Mediterranean shore); the mantis shrimp Clorida albolitura (Gulf of Antalya, Turkey); the mud crab Dyspanopeus sayi (Mar Piccolo of Taranto, Ionian Sea); the blue crab Callinectes sapidus (Chios Island, Greece); the isopod Paracerceis sculpta (northern Aegean Sea, Greece); the sea urchin Diadema setosum (Gökova Bay, Turkey); the molluscs Smaragdia souverbiana, Murex forskoehlii, Fusinus verrucosus, Circenita callipyga, and Aplysia dactylomela (Syria); the cephalaspidean mollusc Haminoea cyanomarginata (Baia di Puolo, Massa Lubrense, Campania, southern Italy); the topmouth gudgeon Pseudorasbora parva (Civitavecchia, Tyrrhenian Sea); the fangtooth moray Enchelycore anatina (Plemmirio marine reserve, Sicily); the silver-cheeked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Saros Bay, Turkey; and Ibiza channel, Spain); the Indo-Pacific ascidian Herdmania momus in Kastelorizo Island (Greece); and the foraminiferal Clavulina multicamerata (Saronikos Gulf, Greece). The record of L. sceleratus in Spain consists the deepest (350-400m depth) record of the species in the Mediterranean Sea. The new records of native species include: first record of the ctenophore Cestum veneris in Turkish marine waters; the presence of Holothuria tubulosa and Holothuria polii in the Bay of Igoumenitsa (Greece); the first recorded sighting of the bull ray Pteromylaeus bovinus in Maltese waters; and a new record of the fish Lobotes surinamensis from Maliakos Gulf. peer-reviewed